A blog about genealogy and thoughts about the various roots and branches of my family tree as well as the times in which my ancestors lived.Included are the West, White,and McFarland families.WARNING:DO NOT TAKE ALL OF MY FAMILY RECORDS AS GOSPEL. ALWAYS CONFIRM YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

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Saturday, February 26, 2011

MEMORIES PT24

We didn’t get any pets right away after we moved into the new house. I think the experiences with Flipper and Peppy had put my folks off onthe joys of having a dog. But we were visiting former neighbors fromEvans St, the Neenans, who had also moved out to the south of Bostonand they had a relative whose dog had just had a litter of puppies.that were half Boxer and half Cocker Spaniel. Now my Uncle Ed and Aunt Emily had a full blooded Boxer named Missy that was very lovable and well behaved, so I think that was the factor that led to us getting one of those puppies, a female to whom we gave the highly unoriginal name of Brownie.She was slightly smaller than a fullblooded Boxer and the original owner had already docked her tail before we took her, but we never had her ears clipped. Brownie a character right from the start. She chased rabbits andfield mice round and round the house and through the field across thestreet and once got a running start, leapt, and snatched a tail featherfrom a pheasant just as it took to flight. She was the sort of dog whowould look at you like she understood every word you were saying to herand would make little noises back at you! We all pretty much agreed shewas the best dog we;d ever had.I have three vivid memories of Brownie. Two of them involve her own litter of puppies. Mom was pregnant with my kid brother at the time and I came home from school one day to find Mom stretched out on the sofa and Brownie sitting in the easy chair nearby. Now this was a majorrule back then, no dogs on the furniture, and I tried to shoo her down, butBrownie engaged in passive resistance. I was about to pick her up when my Mom looked over and said “Leave her alone, we’re pregnant!” so Brownie got to stay there.When the puppies did come, she had the first one on top of the bottom of my bed, which was one heck of a way to wake up. She had a large litter, and Dad thought she was through and let her out. When she came back in, she was carrying yet another puppy in her mouth and placed itat Dad’s feet! We were able to find homes for all of the puppies, incluidingone that one of our neighbor’s took and named Bella, who definitely wasnot as friendly as her mother was. One pup we kept and named Saddlesbut eventually we gave him to our friends the Pais family where he wasloved for years.The third memory is a less happy one. Brownie liked to roam about and one day came running out of the nearby Golf course and was struck by a car. She got up and wobbled off for home. I know this because the driverof the car followed her home and told me what had happened. She reached the foot of the driveway and lay down. One of the neighborhood kids knockedon the door to tell us Brownie was hurt but I was the only one home. All I could think to do was call the Dog officer and then call my parents. Browniewas dead before any of them arrived.We had other dogs afterwards, some of them great dogs, but Brownie wasthe standard that all of them were measured against.